This was a good book. If you work with clients that run, you will get a lot from this. But there is more to this.

Running mechanics are not complicated:

• Phases – Stance Phase, Swing Phase
• Stride – Stride length, Strength frequency
  • Stride Length – Contact to Mid-Stance to Propulsion to Swing Phase

What is complicated is when we start to break down optimal. Michaud did a fantastic job laying out the facts from his clinical setting and research. The heel strike versus whole foot contact phase section was incredibly well written. I’ll be honest, I thought that ball of the foot or forefoot contact was optimal. Michaud made a pretty compelling case that this is not a binary distinction as one is better than the other. The anatomy of the heel, the subtalar joint, the foot, and the toes all have an impact on foot mechanics. Inversion/Eversion of the heel combined with pronation/supination of the foot make a huge difference in whether heel striking is bad. Michaud laid out a pretty good rationale as to why heel striking based on pronation of the foot and the heel having fat pads leading to heel strike contact is a good thing. Combining that with modern footwear, we should encourage heel striking.

My rationale against heel striking was the breaking forces applied when striking your heel. You typically have a positive shin angle and cast your heel in front of your body. This leads to a braking force up the kinetic chain. This not only leads to slowing down propulsion from having forces going in the opposite direction of the running direction but also increases stance phases. As Michaud pointed out, it’s not that simple. It can lead to braking forces at certain velocities, but not at all velocities. normal gait function is the heel striking the ground. Walking, or having at least one foot in contact with the ground during locomotion, definitively has heel striking as part of its function. So it’s not so simple to say we should never heel strike when running.

Michaud did a fantastic job of giving a nonbiased opinion on running mechanics, anatomy, and best footwear. He laid out a solid rationale for treatment based on the biomechanics of the person from gait analysis and combined that with the functional anatomy, we need to understand human locomotion. Highly recommended book.